The mulberries overhanging a sidewalk on Rich Street aren’t as tasty as the mulberries growing
between a vacant house and a boarded-up apartment building on Hawkes Avenue.

I learned as much from Kate Hodges, who recently took me on a foraging walk through the
Franklinton neighborhood.

Even in a dense urban environment, edible things grow wild.

“This is our favorite tree,” she said as she gently shook branches so that the ripest mulberries
on Hawkes fell onto a blanket she had spread on the ground. From there, they went into a plastic
bucket — or the mouth of 4-year-old son Darren, a budding forager himself.

“On a dry day, I find especially on mulberry trees that a lot of little green spiders end up in
your bucket,” Hodges said. “But they float out in water.”

Hodges, 29, describes herself on her blog (www.kateonthe way.wordpress.com) as a fiber artist,
an urban homesteader and a forager.About two years ago, she moved with husband Dennis, a guitar
instructor, from Grandview Heights to the West Side — to lower their living costs.

One way of doing that is to eat what other people would kill with Roundup.

On the day I walked with her, Hodges was lamenting that she had let serviceberry season get away
from her.

Serviceberry trees, which are planted as ornamentals, grow sweet little purple fruits. The one
growing in front of Gladden Community House on Hawkes Avenue had been pretty much pecked clean by
birds before she got to it.

At Hawkes and Town Street, Hodges pointed out a spot where she had spied a stand of peppergrass,
which lends a piquant touch to salads.

“I was having dinner with a friend and food blogger, and I knew what I wanted to make as an
appetizer. And I was really excited. My star ingredient was peppergrass seed. And there were some
really good ones growing on the corner there. And I came back later, and they’d all been
weed-whacked.”

Picking wild berries and greens requires knowledge. Some are toxic. Even edible ones could be
unhealthful or unpalatable if they’re growing on land contaminated by chemicals or picked at the
wrong time, Hodges noted.You have to learn how to do it safely.

But, once you do, you’ll recognize the edible dandelions, burdock, chickweed, plantain, red
clover, wood sorrel and common mallow — to name a few — growing everywhere.

Hodges pointed to the vegetation in her side yard, which in the early spring (many weeds are
best eaten when young) is more or less a wild salad bar that thrives with no human
encouragement.

“Pretty much all of this here is edible, and I don’t water it, and it’s also mostly in the
shade, . . . and look how lush it is. It’s incredible.”